1. Field of the Invention
This invention resides in the field of lobster traps and more particularly relates to concrete runners that are formed on the wire mesh of the lobster trap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lobster traps typically have "ballast" which are often three or four clay or concrete bricks fastened inside each trap. The function of ballast is to add weight to the trap to keep it from moving on the ocean floor and to help the trap sink "right side up." Traps also have "runners," normally two, which are usually hardwood strips attached to the underside of the trap, which wood strips perform a skid function, protecting the bottom of the trap from the substantial abrasion that traps are subjected to on the rocky ocean floor, but such wood strips are buoyant and must be counterweighted by the brick ballast. The runners also protect the gunwale of a boat as the trap is dragged onboard over the gunwale from being scratched and abraded by contact between the traps and the gunwale.
Wire lobster traps are also quite susceptible to bending, especially on a side of the trap having a head opening or openings. "Heads" are the interior net structures that allow lobsters to enter the trap and are designed to prevent the lobsters from escaping. Up to one-third of the side of the wire mesh trap can be cut away for such head openings to allow lobsters' entry into the trap. This cutting away of the wire mesh creates a substantial weakening of the side of the trap, leading to flexure and bending of the wire mesh.
U.S. Pat. Des. 365,135 to Elliott discloses a lobster trap skid that is fastened in pairs to the bottom of a trap, but which skid does not strengthen the wire mesh of the lobster trap to which it is attached.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,449 to Bush describes a crab trap having a concrete block attached to the base of the trap. The wire, though, of the crab trap extends beneath the block, thereby eliminating any skid function of the block as the wire of the trap would contact the gunwale of the boat or the ocean floor.
Great Britain Patent 1,505,354 describes a trap having a metal frame that facilitates sinking of the trap, the frame acting as a weight under certain conditions, but no skid function is disclosed.
Canadian Patent 672,575 describes a trap having tubular members which are filled with cement, helping to interlock arcuate members with transverse base members, but such traps have little structurally in common with the wire mesh lobster traps now in use.